Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve
German psychologist Helma Ebbinghaus conducted an experiment on the relationship between “memory” and “forgetting” in terms of time.
Ebbinghaus asked her subjects to memorize a large number of three meaningless alphabets consisting of “consonants, vowels, and consonants,” and then examined how long it took for the memories to be forgotten. The results showed that almost half of the memories were forgotten immediately after they were learned, but the remaining memories were slowly forgotten and retained for a long time.
Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve
“Curve of Forgetting,” a study from the University of Waterloo in Canada.
According to the results of a study conducted by the University of Waterloo in Canada, learn from a place where you know nothing, and your memory of what you have learned will be 100%. If you do a 10-minute review within 24 hours of learning, you will remember 100% of what you learned. The next time you review within a week, your memory will come back in 5 minutes. If the next review is done within a month, the memory will be restored in 3 to 4 minutes.
Memory association
Memory association is important to prevent forgetfulness.
Dr. Shogo Endo, a researcher on brain aging and memory at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, says, “In most cases, we don’t notice brain aging in our daily lives until we are in our 40s or 50s, but the decline of nerve cells in the brain starts in our 20s. Although it varies from person to person, about 0.5% of nerve cells are lost every year. In addition, the brain’s ability to make decisions peaks around the age of 30 and gradually declines,” he says.
The number of nerve cells increases rapidly around the time of birth, reaching about several billion by the time we reach adulthood. The number of neurons increases rapidly before and after birth, and reaches about tens of billions by adulthood.
Dr. Endo says, “When remembering the names of things, it is best to associate them with something, like an association game, rather than just memorizing the words. By associating them with memories that already exist in the brain, it is easier for the memory to stick.
For example, when we try to memorize “apple,” we simultaneously memorize “red,” “fruit,” “sweet and sour,” and other related information.
When we try to remember “apple”, we follow the related information of “red” and “fruit” to retrieve the desired memory.
Dr. Endo said, “In order to maintain memory, it is good to associate various information (such as the five senses) with a single thing. If there are multiple neuronal circuits that trigger the retrieval of the desired memory, even if the neuronal connections weaken due to aging and the memory cannot be retrieved through one pathway, it can be recalled from another pathway.
The connections between neurons do not deteriorate easily if they are used continuously.
Dr. Shogo Endo
Reference: newton March 2020.3 “Instruction Manual for the Human Body”